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    The Assassin's Blade: The Throne of Glass Prequel Novellas
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    The Assassin's Blade: The Throne of Glass Prequel Novellas
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    The Assassin's Blade: The Throne of Glass Prequel Novellas
    Ebook491 pages7 hours

    The Assassin's Blade: The Throne of Glass Prequel Novellas

    By Sarah J. Maas

    4.5/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    The twist of a knife. The birth of a legend.

    Step into the world of the #1 bestselling Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas with this collection of prequel novellas.

    Celaena Sardothien is her kingdom's most feared assassin. Though she works for the powerful Assassin's Guild and its scheming master, Arobynn Hamel, she yields to no one and trusts only her fellow killer-for-hire, Sam. But when Arobynn dispatches her on missions that take her from remote islands to hostile deserts, Celaena finds herself acting independently of his wishes and questioning her own allegiance.

    If she hopes to escape Arobynn's clutches, Celaena will have to put her faith in her wits and her blade . . . knowing that if she fails, she'll lose not just a chance at freedom but her life.

    A prequel to the New York Times bestselling Throne of Glass, this collection of five novellas explores the history of this cunning assassin and her enthralling-and deadly-world.

    Included in this volume:
    The Assassin and the Pirate Lord
    The Assassin and the Healer
    The Assassin and the Desert
    The Assassin and the Underworld
    The Assassin and the Empire
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBloomsbury Publishing
    Release dateMar 4, 2014
    ISBN9781619632219
    Unavailable
    The Assassin's Blade: The Throne of Glass Prequel Novellas
    Author

    Sarah J. Maas

    Sarah J. Maas is the #1 New York Times and internationally bestselling author of the Crescent City, Court of Thorns and Roses, and Throne of Glass series. Her books have sold millions of copies and are published in thirty-eight languages. Sarah lives with her family in New York City. sarahjmaas.com facebook.com/theworldofsarahjmaas instagram.com/sarahjmaas

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    Reviews for The Assassin's Blade

    4.5/5

    1,112 ratings151 reviews

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    • 3/5
      I really wanted to like this novel (and I did, to some degree, so I will be continuing the series), but I kept stumbling over my own criticism of the characters. First of all, Calaena was far too concerned about her clothes all the time. I am a girl, I love fun clothes too, but this girl was constantly showing up in frilly dress when simpler attire would have suited her better. In addition, I felt as through she was not a fully developed character. Calaena has a good backstory and I think if the author had spent more time thinking about how a person who had been through Calaena's experiences would have responded, this novel would have been very different (and quite possibly better). Anyway, I will admit I still liked it enough to continue the series!
    • 4/5
      A girl who happens to have been trained as an assassin is brought out of prison to fight a deadly contest in order to become and "Kings Champion" and thus be freed. It could have been much more gruesome than it was and for that I liked it. Lots of magic with a queen coming back from the dead to help give advice to the monster that goes around eating out people's internal organs so that his "master" will become more powerful. Loved most of the characters--except for of course the truly hateful ones. A bit predictable in parts and I wish that there had been more backstory, but I guess that is in the novellas that were written that of course mean more money for the author. For that alone, I may or may not buy this series.
    • 5/5
      Really good! Look forward to more.
    • 3/5
      This fantasy series revolves around Celaena Sardothien, a trained assassin who has been exiled to the salt mines where prisoners usually leave only by dying. But Celaena is offered a way out, even if it is a longshot. The King is looking for a Royal Assassin and has summoned a host of potential candidates. The candidates will compete with each other in various assassin type activities, eliminating one candidate each competition. Think of it like The Biggest Loser, but instead of losing the most weight, they have to do things like throw knives, climb walls and wrestle. But someone is killing the assassins and the corpses aren’t just being simply murdered, they are eviscerated and devoured – almost as if the killer is a wild beast. Not only does Celaena have to survive the challenges, but she also has to not become prey to whatever is killing the candidates.I liked the premise for this story, even though it sounds a little like a Hunger Games type of survival story, but in a fantasy environment. But, the writing was inconsistent. There is a constant use of the word Assassin whenever describing Celaena, and it definitely felt old after awhile. Also, Celaena didn’t seem believable. She has just left the salt mines where she has been starved for over a year and with minimal tune up, she is again ready to fight against men who are much bigger and stronger. There’s a lot of promise in this series, but for me, it didn’t quite hit the mark.
    • 4/5
      I've owned this book for a while, first on my kindle, then I bought a hard copy of it. There are certain books which I try reading on my kindle, and for whatever reason, I am just not able to continue on, so then I stop reading it. This was one of those books. I tried reading it when it first came out, then stopped. I had been seeing a lot of hype about the release of Heir of Fire, the third book in the series, and decided I had to try it again since so many people seemed to enjoy. So, after buying a paperback version, I started it again. I am glad I did.

      I enjoyed reading this book. Calaena Sardothien is a badass, arrogant assassin who is released from prison to fight as the Crown Prince's champion in a competition. She has to defeat 23 thieves, murders, and assassins to be the king's champion (incidentally, the same king that threw her into prison and ordered the guards to give her special attention). I both loved and hated Calaena, to be honest. She is a strong woman, who was not broken in the year that she spent in a horrific prison. Yet, she is also very arrogant, which I can understand since before she was thrown in prison, she was the most feared assassin in the country. I just wish in this story I could have seen more of what lay behind her confidence.
      There is not much action in this story, mostly her practicing for the trials, bodies being found in horrific conditions, with the most action the book sees at the end when four competitors go head to head to win the title of the king's champion. With the competition being the main reason she was taken out of prison, Sarah Maas spent precious little time on that story line. Instead, another plot line of competitors murders took over the story. While they do have significance to the story, I was slightly disappointed with this. Also, why would they trust these thieves, murders, assassins with weapons? Why would they let the Prince be so close to someone who could in a few seconds, slit their throat? And to fall in love with them? It bothered me, I'll be honest.
      I was slightly bothered by the love triangle that seemed to develop. If you don't know it already, I have a hate love triangles, since they seem to be the crutch that a lot of authors fall back on lately. It seemed for a while like it was going in that direction.

      For all of that, I did enjoy the book. I am looking forward to starting the second book, Crown of Midnight. I've heard the next books are a lot better than the first, so I can't wait to get to them.
    • 5/5
      New read date June 5th-6th, 2016

      Original read date March 9th-10th, 2013
      Celaena Sardothien is doing hard labor for being the Assassin of Ardalan when she's given the opportunity to earn her freedom. Crown Prince Dorian offers her a deal she can't afford to turn down, if she refuses it would mean spending what's left of her life in the Salt Mines of Endovier. Prince Dorian asks her to enter a competition to become a Royal Champion, upon winning she will serve a term as the Kings personal Champion and earn her freedom in a matter of years. As much a Celaena hates the idea of having anything to do with a King she despises with all her soul she knows she has no other choice, it's a lot better than dying a sad death in one of the most horrible work camps. She accepts and begins her journey to becoming a Royal Champion.

      Celaena quickly realizes things aren't as they seem when the competition starts and the contestants are dying in the most horrible ways imagined or unimagined. She starts to fear for her life and the other competitors as well, even though there is no love lost between her and most of the competitors, she just can't stomach the idea that someone is trying to eliminate them.

      Celaena is a hot head who doesn't realize her own arrogance, her trainer Captain Westfall and the Prince's best friend has to deal with her impatience and anxiousness to show she's the best. Their distrust for each other was strangely funny, they kept playing an unspoken cat and mouse game with each other. Celaena's mind can be very toxic at times but kind of amusing, she is constantly thinking of ways to kill someone who annoys her, I guess I shouldn't expect anything else from a former assassin. I'm sure she still thinks of herself as one though.

      A very unexpected event took place when Celaena was tasked with ridding the evil that is killing the competitors. I thought it would just be her journey for her freedom and a love triangle, but I was very surprised with the twists and turns of this story. I was already loving the story and was even more captivated when all the extra elements of the story started to pop up and added more layers and depth to a very interesting concept. Definitely a must read.
    • 5/5
      If you love a strong kick ass heroine who's number one priority is herself then this book is for you. Super action packed. There is a love triangle but it takes a backseat to the main action. I'm not usually a fantasy fan, but this story makes it interesting while pushing the limits of your imagination. I can't wait to read the rest of the series, and I really hope something developed more with Chaol! Love him.
    • 3/5
      In her debut novel, Throne of Glass, Sarah Maas introduces us to the deadly Celaena Sardothien, Adarlan’s Assassin. Betrayed and imprisoned she is forced to work in a salt mine, until she gets a visit from the Crown Prince, who choses her to be his champion in a competition to become the royal assassin. In return she gets her freedom and a clean slate. Faced with certain death or possible freedom, Celaena agrees to be the prince’s champion.

      I got this book because I heard that fans of Hunger Games and Game of Thrones would like it. But, I think this is a bad marketing idea, especially for a debut novel, even if it already has an online fan-base from the original story. It really spoiled my reading experience because I felt I went into it with very high expectations. First, the things I didn’t like as much.

      The competition wasn’t very exciting. We go into it knowing she will win, not just because she’s the main character and the possibility of her losing is small, but because everyone else believes that Adarlan’s Assassin is the certain winner. Added to this certainty, the competition didn’t seem hard for her at all, there was never a time where I doubted that she would win. This lack of tension made it seem very long and a bit boring.

      Was that really a love triangle? I dislike love triangles in general, especially when most appear to be unrealistic and therefore annoying. The good thing about this love triangle was that even though the narrative alluded to one, it wasn’t a full blown angst-ridden triangle. Maas did a great job of steering clear of the typical. There is Chaol (the Captain of the Guard, who personally trains Celaena) and then there is Dorian (the Crown Prince). I would understand Chaol’s side, he spends a lot of time with Celaena, almost every day training, including eating meals together - which seemed unnecessary for a Captain to be doing with a prisoner. What I didn’t understand was Celaena and Dorian. We are lead to believe that Celaena hates Dorian, however, she changed her opinion rather quickly, and with limited contact. The speed at which she moved from hatred to fondness seems unrealistic, especially since Dorian didn’t perform any grand gesture. Other than that, the love triangle was more tolerable, even if it was still a bit unrealistic.

      The writing style took some time to get use to. I’m not sure what it was about the way the story was written, but something in the sentence construction seemed awkward and often jarring. We kept jumping back and forth from different character perspective, which in itself wasn’t bad, (it was clearly defined and sometimes necessary to the storytelling) however, there were times when it would have been interesting to see Dorian or Chaol through Celaena’s eyes, as opposed to what they were thinking. At those points Celaena’s perspective and observations were lost.

      All those things aside, there were a few things in this novel that I really enjoyed. Celaena is a good protagonist to read. She’s funny, independent, strong and even a little vulnerable - though, given her role this does seem odd sometimes. Her interaction with many of the characters in this novel provided some laugh out loud moments.

      The idea of Throne of Glass is intriguing. Half-way though the book, characters start dying in horrific ways and the story picks up. The fantasy side starts developing and the mystery around the deaths is interesting. I was a fan of the fantasy in this tale and I definitely hope to see more in future works. I liked that the narrative was more than just the competition, that we saw relationships develop (Celaena and Princess Nehemia - who I kept calling Nehemiah in my head) and that there is an underlying fantasy side, which, while not overpowering, was strong enough to peaks my interest.

      I’m not certain how many books this series will be, but, hopefully the story isn’t dragged out. When I finished, all the negatives stood out in my head, but, overtime the story grew on me. I liked it, and I’m hoping that there is growth in the writing on the next book. Fans of fantasy will enjoy.

      [received an ARC at BEA]
    • 2/5
      I'll continue with this series because I liked it just enough to keep going. There were so many problems though. The biggest one being not enough action. The book says over and over and over again how Celaena is "The World's Greatest Assassin" "Queen of the Underworld" etc. etc. and yet I would say 90% of this book is about boys and dresses. The most exciting parts are when Celaena is showing her skills which is why I don't get why there were only 3 or 4 fight scenes. The tests that the champions go through are extremely lame (obstacle course?!). The murder mystery is ridiculously easy to solve which makes it boring to see the characters struggle to figure it out. Also, for an assassin Celaena sure gets snuck up on a lot!

      I like that Celaena is tough. I like that she likes dresses and books and isn't above "girly" things. I like that ultimately she puts herself above boys. And I like that she has a close female friend. My criticisms of her character stem from the fact that there was a lot of talk about Celaena being a bad-ass with very little of her actually showing it. Since she is an assassin who has killed a lot of people I expected her character to be morally gray. She wasn't dark enough and that made it hard to empathize with all the trauma she'd been through and understand all the bad things she'd done. I just finished reading another book with a cool heroine: "The Immortal Rules" by Julie Kagawa and in that book you see a truly tough heroine. Toughness that is demonstrated in action. She is a dark character that also has a great sense of humor. I wish Celaena was a little more like her. It also annoyed me how much Celaena blushed. You have killed people! Why should a boy make you blush!

      I'm mostly continuing because there is a lot of potential here for a pretty cool series. I'm hoping that the next book won't be as slow moving as this one. Please please please give me more action scenes!
    • 5/5
      Wow! I purchased this book and left it on my shelf collecting dust for weeks. Not sure what compelled me yesterday to pick it up with the intention of "only" reading for a few minutes. The "only for a few minutes" dragged to a full day and eventually I spent the entire weekend curled up in my bed devouring this book. It's not a masterpiece, mind you. There are loop holes and slight inconsistencies here and there but overall compared to what is available in the market these days, this by FAR, surpassed my expectations and is well worth the 4 stars and a half I rated it. I'm impatiently waiting for the bookstore to open to get my hands on the sequel.
    • 3/5
      I would call Throne of Glass a solid meh, except that I care too much about it for it to just be a blah book. I wanted to like it. I still want to like it. So many people say the series is amazing and the covers are cool, and are assassins and political intrigue and arhgablargastarg! I have a lot to say. I may get a bit ranty.First, I see this book compared to The Girl of Fire and Thorns a lot. Stop comparing them. Right now. They are not the same in tone or plot or character or setting or style or anything. Just because two fantasy romance YAs with female protagonists came out at roughly the same time does not mean the two books are similar. Besides, Girl of Fire and Thrones is a much stronger and more enjoyable novel.Second, the shifting POVs are a bit shaky, especially at the beginning of the novel. I think this is what rubbed me the wrong way initially, and it made me more critical as the book progressed. We spend nearly all our time in 3rd person limited, dipping into Celeana's thoughts. At some chapter breaks we change to 3rd person limited Chaol or Dorian. Fine. Not terribly clear at first, but fine. But randomly, in the middle of some chapters, without indication, and especially near the beginning of the novel, we switch POVs for a couple sentences or paragraphs. No reason is given for why we're hopping into Chaol's brain for a second. We don't know why it should matter that we're now getting Dorian's thoughts but only for these two sentences. Or we're following some super temporary omniscient narrator and seeing into multiple heads at a time. It's just clumsy and confusing and annoying.Probably my biggest problem with the novel: I am so sick of love triangles. I can enjoy a good romantic subplot. I can even enjoy a good romantic foreplot. But these stupid, angsty triangles-are-cool-right-now, weak excuses for plots are driving me insane. If Celaena just had feelings for Chaol, that would be fine, though it would still be a pretty weak romance. But the Prince was just terrible. Spoiled, arrogant, entitled, and uninteresting. As a side character he would be annoying, but as a romantic interest I couldn't stand him. All the time spent mooning over the prince could have been spent on Nehemia, easily the most interesting character in the book . Rebel spy; witty, fighting princess from conquered lands? Why isn't more of the book about her? Granted, there are actually some good plot reasons for this, and it looks like she might get more screen time in later books. But I just wanted to leave the boys behind and have Celeana and Nehemia to go off monster-slaying and empire-overthrowing with occasional side trips for Celeana to pull a heist with Nox.The villains, meanwhile, are too obvious to be very interesting. Spoiler paragraph. It is pretty clear from pretty early on that Pennington and Kaltain are up to no good. Maas isn't trying to be sneaky there. But the question who's butchering the champions is supposed to be the driving mystery of the whole book. I'm supposed to wonder. I'm supposed to be surprised. I'm supposed to have several wrong guesses before the true villain is finally revealed. Instead we get the obviously distasteful brute named after the most famous murderer in all of Western literature who's being manipulated by Pennington, who we already know is a bad guy. With what we get in the final chapter, I could see Pennington and the king becoming more interesting, but overall I wanted better antagonists.And Celeana herself is unrealistic. Not that she's too skilled; I can buy that. Nor is she too vain; her need for others to recognize and applaud her skill fits her character. But she's an assassin--trained to live in the shadows, to be alert, to trust no one. And she was betrayed. AND she's spent the last year in the salt mine death trap. Yet she keeps falling asleep, in seconds, no problem, around people she doesn't fully trust, or continues to sleep soundly when they sneak into her room. I don't need full on just-off-the-streets Vin paranoia, but a little more caution and attentiveness from the supposed best assassin in the land would be nice. Yes, this sound nit-picky, but come on. She specifically makes her door hinge squeaky so people can't sneak into her room, then two scenes later the Prince sneaks in to watch her sleep (which was creepy by the way) without the door making noise or Celeana waking up, then two scenes after that the door is squeaky again and she wakes up when Chaol comes in to report another murder. I expect better from my assassins.But in spite of all this, I do think I will try the first 50 pages or so of book 2. I have heard from multiple people that the series gets better, that book one is the weakest, that if I just stick it out I'll be satisfied. There is potential. The mystery of the Wyrdmarks, the fae realm, Celeana's past, more Nehemia, more assassination. Book two could be good. Or it could get bogged down by the stupid love triangle. I guess I'll see.
    • 4/5
      It took me awhile to get into this book, maybe 100 pages or so. But once I got into it, I was hooked. I loved the main character, Celaena, a total bad-ass assassin they call Queen of the Underworld. Not only is she the best assassin but she also loves to read, play the piano, and fancy dresses. She had a rough life before she became an assassin, then someone betrayed her and she wound up in one of the worst places on earth. Even after all of that, she still manages to have a light side to her, not lost to total darkness. The two main men in her life, Chaol and Dorian, are great each in their own way. The world that Maas created, along with the characters, was incredible. There were so many interesting things going on! The Champion contest, the Eyllwe princess, the Wyrdmarks and murders, the King's mysterious journey. I really can't wait to read what comes next for these characters in the sequel, Crown of Midnight!
    • 4/5
      Overall, a pretty solid read. The writing gets weak at times, and the love triangles just as insufferable as any other YA love triangle, but the story was highly entertaining and I'm intrigued to know more about the characters and the world.
    • 5/5
      This book is amazing. It has to be one of the best books I have ever read. I’m a freaking blubbering mess right nowCharacters:Calaena- She was a smart-mouthed assassin. She was really full of herself, but despite that I love her. At some points, she had me rolling my eyes. She was all talk and no action until she suddenly proved that she really was worthy of her notorious reputation. I found her kind of naive at some parts. For example, when she wakes up and finds a bag of candy on her bed. She literally eats them all despite not knowing who put them there. I don’t know, maybe she really trusts her instincts and I’m judging her too harshly. Overall, I loved her. This is gonna be a long ride and I know we are going to see grow as a character.Dorian-Honestly, I don’t know how to feel about him. He had his moments were he said something beautifully romantic and all. Yet, I didn’t buy him as her love interest. I love him as a character, and I ship a BFF sort of friendship between. I kept finding myself rooting for Chaol. I don’t even know how I feel out him either, but I liked him. His quiet intense personality felt more real than Dorians easy flirtatious attitude. I really have no idea where the author is going to go with the love triangle, but I really hope Chaol gets his chance to prove he is worthy!Plot:I have to admit that I expected more action, but the pace wasn’t unpleasant. Sarah J. Maas would drop twist and turns that would keep me on the edge of my bed. At first, I didn’t see the whole magic aspect as being a big part of the story, but it fit in really nice. It turns out to be more important than I anticipated. The final ‘fight’ or climax was awesome. It raised so many more questions, but it was a satisfying end for a first book in a series. The ending is not a cliffhanger but despite that I’m eager to read the sequel (like right now)!The book wasn’t perfect but it was amazing. I’d give it a four, but this book contains that magical thingy that brings out my inner compulsive reader. I’m so glad I finally picked this book up. I think this series is going to make it to the shelf of fame! Have you read this book? How did you feel about Dorian and Chaol?
    • 3/5
      Tstl heroine, silly world, amusing in that way
    • 3/5
      I have mixed feelings about this book. Things started out great with an intriguing offer to our heroine assassin, but once she reached Rifthold things took an unexpected turn. I expected more focus on the actual competition, rebuilding Celaena's health and skill set, and her relationship with Chaol. I wasn't prepared for so much time spent on Dorian and the happenings in the royal court. Celaena's personality didn't always fit my definition of a famous assassin, either. As other reviewers point out, she behaves like a very young teen during a large part of her time at court. Since most of her youth was taken from her in the prison mine, perhaps she was grasping hold of the experience while she could. Throne of Glass isn't even close to being bad, I just had different expectations in my mind. The politics and happenings in the royal court are important and the story did hold my attention. I particularly enjoyed Celaena's relationship with Princess Nehemia and the magical side of things had a different vibe to it. Obviously there are layers upon layers of secrets to be revealed in the future. I'm very curious to see what happens next and look forward to a stellar second book.
    • 4/5
      I'm glad I picked this book as one of my summer reads. Celaena has been recruited for a competition to be the King's Champion. She was taken from a jail in the the mines where she was probably soon going to perish. Her skill set is desired by the Crown Prince as she is the most notorious assassin in the kingdom. The group develops a ruse to hide her identity (not very well, I might add) during the competition. Celaena's ability to overcome the abuse and trauma of her past to forge new relationships is amazing. There is much court intrigue during the trials. And there is the supernatural, the visions and dreams of an ancient queen entreating Celaena to win the competition and find the evil within the castle. There is the requisite love triangle of sorts. A mysterious princess from an oppressed land. I enjoyed the read a lot and will continue with the series. It has much in common with another favorite of mine, Graceling by Kristin Cashore.
    • 3/5
      3.5
      This book was I an all right YA read, but it didn't live up to it's hype or that cool cover—the one with the dangerous looking hunting knives, not the sweet sixteen (which actually does match the tone of the book, to my disappointment). Look at the two of them. They give totally different impressions of what the book will be like.

      I like and wanted a gritty, tough assassin-woman and the first cover promises that. I'm not all that fond of sensitive, if skilled, teenage girls slowly falling in love. The second cover could easily relay that...Of the two the second cover is far more appropriate for the book.

      And you know what? I wouldn't have picked it up. Just goes to show the importance of a book's cover. I COMPLETELY read this book because the version I got my hands on has the first one and the awesome cover pulled me in. I was fooled.

      Here's an example of what I mean. Celaena is said to have been the best and most notorious assassin in all of the kingdom. However, in the course of the book we NEVER (not once!) see her act as an assassin. The closest she comes is using that skill (which we're repeatedly told she has but almost never see) to save someone's life. At ~85% there is finally a fight scene, but due to extenuating circumstances she's not even in peak condition for it. So, her as an assassin really was an existential thing.

      As a result, I found Celaena COMPLETELY unbelievable as an assassin. Because, as I said, we almost never see her act like an assassin (you know, killing anyone or even perpetrating violence of any sort). She was involved in a truly imbecilic competition in which almost all of the challenges were individual events like archery, knife throwing (both at targets) or identifying poisons and the vast majority of them were actually glossed over. So, even thought the competition is referred to as "brutal" in the sequel's blurb, it was actually really tame. She did a lot of reading and flirting and almost no fighting.

      But also because she had such a lovely disposition. She had the personality of a nice girl next door most of the time. Yes, she'd let the occasional threat fly and frequently imagined how she might kill someone, but otherwise she was pleasant as can be. For someone with as much horrible history as she was supposed to have, she was remarkably well balanced.

      I think it's unfair to the reader and untenable for an author to separate a character's history from her current manifestation. Celaena was supposed to have been trained in assassination since she was 8. She was referred to as the 'Queen of the Underworld.' This is a woman who was supposed to have endured, seen and perpetrated enough heinous acts to terrify a nation. That is the premise of her character. But the nice girl she actually is in the story, the one who values life so much and feels so bad about killing or slavery, CANNOT SUPPORT THAT PAST. It just can't. And if the very structure on which the story is build is compromised by such a yawning hole, I guarantee the rest will collapse for me.

      I'm not saying the book is bad. In fact, it's remarkably well written, with snappy dialogue and a rare heroine who, in once sense, chooses her own freedom over some mythical idea of true love. I really, really respect that and was impressed by it. (I imagine it will be undone in future books, but here I got to be pleased.) It just that it sets itself up to be this heavy, ponderous, maybe even violent book when it's actually pretty light and fluffy. It's not what I expected to read, based on the cover and blurb, and while a lot of people love it (I didn't actually hate it) I did feel cheated out of the story I was promised.
    • 4/5
      Umm…yeah. I’m not proud of it, but I was binge reading some super fantastic fantasy novels while I was away. Grave Mercy and Throne of Glass share deliciousness in their commonalities, but they have a unique flavor unto themselves as well. I. Could. Not. Get. Enough.Grave Mercy, by Robin LaFevers immediately jumps into action with Ismae escaping a husband that’s devoured one-too-many cream puffs. She finds herself harbored by a convent that trains her in the lethal arts of assassination. Ismae, for once, is a highly believable character; she starts out as over confident with her training, then questions herself and her morality as the story unfolds. And she’s smart. It’s starting to become difficult to find that type of perception in a YA novel female lead. The fact that she would totally dominate in a cage fight doesn’t hurt, either. What completely blew my mind, however, was the skillful way LaFever wove her story with multiple characters—but not so many that the reader was confused and had to depend on a character chart. There was action, romance (NO LOVE TRIANGLE, thank god!), and intrigue, which again, many recent YA novels lack. She sprinkled spicy plot points throughout her story that gave me a hunkering for more, which she delivers in the second installment, Dark Triumph. Both are well worth the read, and I’m anxiously awaiting the third installment, Mortal Heart, due in 2014.As I sat back wiping the powdered sugar off my face, satisfied from that appetizing novel, I spied yet another compelling cover delivering an enchanting aroma from the bookshelf. I tried to resist, but once I was past the opening page, there was no turning back from this mouth-watering adventure. The character of Celaena has been hardened by her life as an assassin and prisoner in a brutal mining camp. Her battle back from the brink of death while still maintaining her steely exterior and dignity was impressive, and again, the court scheming opened a significant window of Celaena’s street savvy and strategic intelligence that gives the reader a crisp, refreshing breeze. Although this story does have a love triangle, it was layered in circumstances, personalities, and outcomes that were surprising and not syrupy-sweet in the slightest.Maas is an engaging writer for fans. She dutifully published several backstories of early assassination assignments and adventures for Celaena, while the author’s readers patiently waited for book two of the series, Crown of Midnight, recently published in August, 2013. This is another series that I will gladly belly up to the buffet and finish. Round two of binge reading, commence!
    • 5/5
      In a land without magic, where the king rules with an iron hand, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She comes not to kill the king, but to win her freedom. If she defeats twenty-three killers, thieves, and warriors in a competition, she is released from prison to serve as the king's champion. Her name is Celaena Sardothien.The Crown Prince will provoke her. The Captain of the Guard will protect her. But something evil dwells in the castle of glass—and it's there to kill. When her competitors start dying one by one, Celaena's fight for freedom becomes a fight for survival, and a desperate quest to root out the evil before it destroys her world.My Thoughts:Throne of Glass was another book I resisted reading for awhile. Now that I've read it I'm not at all sure why I once resisted. Celeana is an intriguing heroine; once the most notorious assassin in the kingdom she now fights for her relative freedom as the king's champion. Celeana is a strong, willful, young woman who fights with everything she has for the promise of a future she may not yet attain.The bad:I don't like the hints of a love triangle between Celeana, Prince Dorian, and the Captain of the Guard Chaol. I just don't do love triangles, I think they are over done in young adult fiction. In my opinion unless your love triangle is as awesome as the ones in F.S. Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, don't put it in there. I'd wager that most people manage to find love without the drama and angst of a love triangle, but I digress. Magic. There isn't enough of it. Oh, sure, the blurb on the back of the book mentions that magic has "disappeared" but even in the beginning of the book when small footprints lead to Celeana's tent and small white flowers are left at the foot of her cot, there are hints that magic still remains. The wyrdmarks are an intriguing idea but they seem almost haphazardly thrown into the story at a point where they really don't fit. Perhaps, Crown of Midnight, which I'm eagerly awaiting from my public library, will resolve these issues.The good:The world is amazing. I love when I open a book to see a map of the world, it just promises attempts at great world building. Sarah Maas does not disappoint. The world she creates is vibrant and detailed. At several points I found myself turning to the map to figure out where places were and how they were related. That being said, I would have liked to have more information about different areas of the continent such as Eyllwe and Terrasen. Hints of Celeana's past come out at several points in the story and they seem to promise more to come.I am greatly looking forward to Crown of Midnight. I expect to finish it in record time just like Crown of Thorns. This series is shaping up to be one I wish I'd bought rather than borrowed from the library because I'd love to read it again and again. I would recommend this book, and its trilogy, to anyone who loves fairy tales with a bit of a twist.
    • 4/5
      Review to come :) I just reread Throne of Glass a couple days ago.
    • 4/5
      Celaena Sardothian has spent a year in the salt mines of Endovier, a place where few last long, when she is removed from the mines by the Captain of the Guard and given the choice of remaining in prison, or entering a competition to vie for the position of King's Champion. She negotiates a deal that says if she wins, she has only to be the King's Champion for four years, and then she has earned her freedom. It's an attractive proposition, but first she has to beat out 23 killers, thieves and soldiers. She has other worries as well. The distracting attractiveness of Crown Prince Dorian, threatens to disrupt her training focus, and the mysterious unsolved murders of the competitors by an unknown assailant in the castle threaten her life. I enjoyed the character of Celaena and will probably purchase book 2 for our library shelves.
    • 5/5
      It's not often that a book catches me off guard, but this one sure did. Sometimes, the mood for a particular type of story or experience will strike me out of the blue, making me seek out the sort of book that will satisfy the hankering. At the time, what I felt like reading was a traditional young adult fantasy, complete with action and intrigue, a kickass heroine, a thrilling love triangles and all that goodness. I was pretty confident that Throne of Glass was going to deliver all that and more when I first settled back with the audiobook, and yet nothing could have prepared me for the way it swept me off my feet.A year into her imprisonment and forced labor at the salt mines of Endovier, convicted assassin Celaena Sardothien is hauled before the Crown Prince and offered a chance to reclaim her freedom. The conditions Prince Dorian offers her are simple: act as his champion in the king's upcoming competition to find a royal assassin, win, serve the kingdom for four years, and then she will be free.However, the trials set up to prepare Celaena for the competition are challenging and brutal, and her opponents are all hardened, dangerous men. Chaol Westguard, the guard captain overseeing her training, pushes her hard and keeps her isolated from much of the court activities. Still, she cannot help but be drawn to him, much as she is drawn to the prince. Things get more interesting -- and unsettling -- when one by one, the other champions turn up dead, savagely ripped apart by someone or something unnatural. Celaena fears the killer will come for her next, ending her hopes before she will even have the chance to win her freedom.I admit, I was a bit worried when I first met Celaena. I can take sassy, confident and badass young adult heroines, but what gets on my nerves is arrogance. And Celaena happens to have it in abundance. It's not that her vanity is uncalled for; in fact, she's quite the talented young woman, having all the looks, the smarts, the moves. But I could have done without her proclaiming her greatness every chance she gets.Obviously, something changed my opinion of her at a later point, otherwise I wouldn't have enjoyed this book so much. But more on that later because first praise needs to go to the narrator Elizabeth Evans whose voice work was exceptional, perhaps doing the job too well. Her delivery of Celaena's lines were all spot on, nailing all the boastfulness and arrogance of her character. It's really amazing how a good narrator can bring out the full gamut of a protagonist's personality, for better or worse.Definitely for the better once I warmed towards Celaena, eventually. Beneath the arrogance lies a lot more than I'd given her credit for, a much greater complexity. She's really not as invincible as she thinks she is, and deep down I think she knows this. It cast her determination and her strength in a whole different light for me, and in time I grew to like her and want to see her succeed. I'm still not completely sold on the love triangle between her, Prince Dorian and the Chaol Westfall, but at least I desperately wanted to see her win the king's competition.And speaking of the competition, what a complete 180 it did on my emotions! Here I was, thinking that it's just like the fantasy version of a reality-TV-show-type game where the champion with the worst performance gets booted out and goes home each week. That's how it started off, but by the end I was completely enthralled, especially over the final duel scene. It's good that audiobooks don't allow you to easily flip forward to the end of a chapter to find out what happens like you do with a book, or else I would have been sorely tempted to spoil the outcome for myself. It was just that intense.Like I said, I really didn't expect this book to be this gripping and full of surprises. The beginning of it led me think it was going to be an average book, but gradually it built up both the story and the characters to make this one close to a five-star read.
    • 5/5
      Where do I even begin? Before I started the book, I had kept hearing about how great this book was. Everyone seemed to just absolutely LOVE it. And rightly so! I'm just one more blogger that agrees.

      I guess I'll start with the characters. They're all phenomenally written, and what I think Maas did best was that she made sure that all of the characters had flaws. Celaena, who is one of my favorite heroines of all time, was so well-written and so real, partially due to the fact that she wasn't perfect. She had her own moments of weakness, and getting to see both sides of her was great. (I also found it interesting to see how girly Celaena could be despite her, ah, profession.) And of course it wasn't just Celaena. There was also Chaol, Dorian, Nehemia, the King, and everyone! Maas builds up her characters extremely well, and they're all very well-rounded characters.

      Next is the plot itself. I've always been a fan of epic/high fantasy, and Throne of Glass made me fall in love with the sub-genre all over again. The world building was beyond phenomenal. Of course, there's also a map at the front of the book. Awesome, right? Anyway, back to the plot. It felt perfectly paced, and it was suspenseful and intriguing enough to keep me interested and invested in the story through the entire book. I never wanted to put it down! If it were up to me, I would have spent the entire day reading it. Seriously, why didn't I read this book before??? I'm also really glad that although there was some light romance, it didn't overshadow the main plot. If anything, it enhanced it. And I personally thought there was enough in it for you to at one moment want her to be with Dorian and the other to be with Chaol (I was originally a Dorian fan, but I think I'm siding more towards Chaol now). It's interesting to see how the different relationships, all of which are very different (as in not just romantic relationships), affect the plot. I don't really know how else to describe everything I loved about this book. It was just everything!

      What else do I talk about? (It's been too long since I've written a review, clearly.) Basically...intriguing, complex characters with compelling relationships, great character and world building, perfect pacing, extremely invested in the story, enjoyable style (at least personally), and a really well executed plot and story in general.

      I kind of just love everything about the book, so.
    • 3/5
      A strong opener to this series concerning the path of a young female assassin, rescued from a slaver mine in order to compete for the chance to serve as King's Champion. There are many moments of internal struggle for assassin Celaena--the King she is fighting to champion has destroyed her people, her home, and is the driving force behind her imprisonment in the slaver mines. Also, he's a bad dude...perhaps even demon posessed. The action was pleasantly fast-paced, although I found the focus on Celaena's love life a bit frustrating. Very few of the actual 'trials' were touched upon with any detail, and Celaena actually seemed to spend a fair amount of the novel in her rooms, joined by a conflicted Prince, stoic Captain of the Guard, and/or twittering maid. Still, an interesting story, and I look forward to checking out the sequel.
    • 4/5
      Master assassin Celaena Sardothien has been serving time in the salt mines. She is rushed in front of the Prince. He offers her freedom with a slight catch. Celaena must agree to take part in a competition to become the royal assassin. If she wins and works as their assassin for 4 years she'll gain her freedom. Something Celaena has never had.This series wasn't originally on my list to read, but I found the cover very enticing. It turned out to be such an exciting read. I loved the strong, but vulnerable Celaena. Throne of Glass was a fantasy story you won't want to put down. Wonderful world building and even more interesting characters. This is action packed story filled will intrigue, murder, friendship and love.If you enjoyed Kristin Cashore's Graceling Realm or Maria V. Snyder's Study series, you should definitely try Sarah J. Maas. Throne of Glass is narrated by Elizabeth Evans. For me a narrator can make or break an audio book. But I really enjoyed Ms. Evans voice, she became Celaena completely. [audio review]
    • 3/5
      NOTE: I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

      After all the praising reviews I saw of this novel, I thought that I should read it too. But I can only say that I was disappointed very much. I was expecting a spectacular story, that would grab me from the very first page and would leave me aching for more. Instead, what I got was a poorly told story with no purpose, that left me wondering what was the idea of it at all.

      To be honest, the quality of the story sort of improved after the first half was thru, but I do not think that a book could be called good if it's such only from the middle on. I mean, many people will stop reading before they reach the point where the story started to get interesting. I even have friends who gave up reading before they reached that point, and I completely understand them. After all, if a book doesn't grab us from the very beginning, we wouldn't want to waste our time reading on, unsure whether we'd end up liking it at all.

      The fact that this book was proclaimed the YA "Song of Ice and Fire", I think is ridiculous. Throne of Glass has nothing on the epic world that many many authors have created and continue developing. This novel is merely a wanna be.

      The story line was also sort of ridiculous. A Champion of the King had to be picked after a series of tests among the most notorious soldiers, assassins and thieves. Well, I had expected something lively, at least at the tests. But they were all so very dull - running, climbing... but no fighting until the very end. It was sort of boring. Even the court intrigues couldn't really interest me.

      Let's talk about the characters a little now.

      *Calaena was the lead female in this story. She was an assassin, but I honestly can't say she was even remotely close to that title. In the entire book she didn't kill a single person, though she had many many chances. She was more concerned about wearing pretty dresses and going to royal parties than exercising her profession. Also, her choices were way too obvious, and in the end I was extremely frustrated by her.

      *Prince Dorian was such a crybaby. I honestly didn't like the guy. The only thing he seemed to do was wink at the ladies and whine that the world was unfair to him. He only seemed to get a bit manly after he met Calaena.

      *Captain Chaol was perhaps the most likeable character of them all. He was tough to please, though his heart was meek and loveable. He knew his place and didn't try going any higher. He wasn't light hearted or quick to trust anyone.

      *Nehemia, the Ellywe princess was quite an interesting character, though we only saw her in her real light at the very end.

      In conclusion, I can only say that Throne of Glass could've been much more interesting, had it been written in an intriguing manner from the very first line. It wasn't, and that was it's very great problem. Still though, it has potential. You might like it if you persevere enough to get to the good part.
    • 3/5
      I enjoyed the beginning and the ending of this book, but the middle really sagged for me. The world building that Maas does is easy to follow, even with the multitude of unfamiliar names to keep track of, but the character development in the middle just didn't really build for me like I expected. The heroine's character is unpredictable and inconsistent, so I had a hard time knowing what to expect from her, or understanding her reactions in some instances.

      The action scene at the end was particularly well-written, but I didn't love either Dorian or Chaol enough to really feel invested in which she ends up with in a future book.
    • 5/5
      This might end up being another quick review...not because I don't have a lot to say about this book, but because it's all going to be gushing anyway. Yeah, I loved this book - everything about it.

      Well, not everything. There could have been some kissing with Chaol, if you please. One little thing. That's all I wanted!

      Okay, I jest. I really did want some kissing with Chaol, but I wanted it to be ME and Chaol. :D

      I love the world that Sarah Maas created here. It was so fantastically real to me. I read it with such vivid pictures in my mind that it really must exist somewhere.

      The characters were just as real to me. They jumped off the pages and became part of me for the little bit of time that I spent with them.

      Celaena was fantastic. Such an incredibly strong character, but vulnerable at the same time. Dorian wasn't at all what I expected. Neither was Chaol. I went into this wanting to hate them both, but I couldn't. They were amazing. Such strong personalities and totally swoon-worthy too. Oh, and how!

      (By the way, I have dibs on Chaol, just FYI. You can have Dorian.)

      I got so caught up in this story and I felt ALL THE THINGS. How I love it when a book does that for me! I couldn't possibly give this one anything other than 5 Eiffel Towers and a promise to own it and the rest of the series.
    • 5/5
      Purely Fantastic. I greatly enjoyed Celaena's story and I can't wait to see where she is going. The fight scenes were superbly done, fast paced, vivid, and easily envisioned. The most praise I can give is I actually read them instead of skimming by until the "action" is over. I also enjoyed how Celaena did not fall instantly in love. The relationships she has developed are not overnight clichés. I off to see if the next book has been released!